Entangled
by rlassie
Summary: AU short story, set a year after BD. How much do we know about Jasper's childhood? The people he befriended? What would happen if someone from his long-dead past showed up in his life again? Someone who loved him long before Alice? How will he react? How will both their lives change as a result? Jasper/OC rated T for language.
1. On my own

**Entangled**

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable doesn't belong to me.

**A/N – Don't you just love those annoying plot bunnies that won't leave you alone? They pick and pick and pick until you just have to write them down. That's where this came from. It was meant to be a one-shot, but it developed a bit more than that, so will probably end up being a two or maybe three-shot. There's not that much Jasper in this chapter, but I guarantee he'll feature more prominently in the next. Anyway, hope you enjoy this persistent little niggle and please let me know what you think! **

**Chapter One – On my own**

* * *

My name is Maisie Simmons and I have loved Jasper Whitlock most of my life.

And let me tell you, what an extremely long life it has been. I was born in Houston Texas, in the year 1846. Since it's now 2009, I'm technically 163 years old. I think I look pretty good for someone creeping up on two hundred. Of course, my 'condition' may have had something to do with that.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself here. I can't really tell you my story by starting smack dab in the middle of it, now can I? So let's start from the beginning. And the undeniable fact that I stated above.

Jasper and I grew up together. That's right, I was the 'girl next door.' He's two years older than me, though that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as we're both ancient now. He was my best friend from the moment I was old enough to know what friendship was. Clichéd, I know, but this whole story is pretty much a cliché. But it's my life – or this first part used to be anyway.

Jasper was always the perfect Southern Gentleman, even when he was a child. Though our parents lived side by side, his nature was how I really got to know him in the first place. I was four, and a scrawny, knobbly little thing, all arms and legs and big front teeth. A pretty child I was not. Because of this, I was a target for bigger, stronger kids to pick on. Yes, that's right, bullying even existed back in the 1800's. If anything, it was probably worse back then.

Anyway, these three big kids – though now that I think about it, they couldn't have been more than seven – had me pinned against a tree, at the other end of the field from the house. We lived on the outskirts of Houston, so you could have been forgiven for thinking we lived in the country. So these three boys had me pinned, and though I was giving as good as I got, I had no chance against three older boys. They'd just knocked me to the ground and were pulling me up again – by my hair I might add – when Jasper appeared out of nowhere.

I knew who he was, he lived next to me and our parents socialized, but I didn't 'know' him if you know what I mean. So I was shocked when, instead of joining in like I expected him too, he grabbed the boy who was holding me and punched him in the stomach.

The boy dropped me like a rock and then Jasper proceeded to beat up all three of those bullies, while I lay on the ground, trying to get my breath back. He coped a few in the fight as well, three against one is an uneven number after all, but in the end that single six-year-old boy sent all three of those brutes running off home to their mama's.

I looked up as he walked over, wiping blood off his mouth in the process, and held out his hand to me.

"You right there darlin'?"

And with that, I was a goner. Those four simple words changed my life. I stuck to him like a limpet from then on, though he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he approved of me.

You see, despite what my name suggests, I'm no Southern Belle. Even back then, I was as far from that stereotype as you can get. I was a rough-and-tumble type of girl. A real tomboy. A huge disappointment to my parents, my mother in particular, but I tried my best not to care about that. Jasper helped. He accepted me the way I was, even encouraged me to be who I wanted to be.

He was the best and only friend I had as a child. And I loved him for it.

I think I was about twelve when I first noticed that he wasn't so much of a 'boy' anymore. Even before he became what he is now, he was good-looking. Handsome, charming and quite a flirt, and the older he got the more popular with the opposite sex he became.

He was my first true crush, one that lasted past the interest of other boys – though there hadn't been much of that in the first place. I wasn't the type to grow into my looks, and my fellow females let me know exactly how ugly they and all the young bachelors thought I was.

My fine black hair, which is now cut short around my ears, did not suit the length the style of that time demanded. My eyes are large and greenish brown, and I remained tall and gangly as I grew, only developing a few subtle curves. And my teeth… well my mouth eventually stretched to accommodate them, but this just meant my mouth became too large for my face. I'm not pretty, far from it, but I think I now make the most of what I have.

But back in the past I wasn't marriage material at all, while Jasper was completely the opposite. By the time he left, I was at the stage that he could make my heart race just by walking into the room. I knew it was pathetic, just as I knew he never had and never would see me that way, but most teenage girls are ruled by their silly, very teenage hearts. Not wanting to lose him, I did my best to bury my stupid, newly-developed feelings and stuck to being his friend. This still didn't stop the jealousy. The only thing that kept me from tearing out the eyes of the damsels that flocked around him, was the fact that he didn't want to settle down with a wife. No, my Jasper wanted to fight.

I begged him not to go, I really did. But Jasper was very stuck in his ways. He laughed off my fears, telling me he'd be fine.

"Stop worrying so much, May. I will be back before you know it, you'll see," he would say as he bumped my shoulder with his and smiled at me. Even as he said the words, I somehow knew that they wouldn't come true.

So I began plotting a plan of my own.

If Jasper thought he could get into the Confederate Army when he was only seventeen, why couldn't I? I looked more like a boy then I did a girl. I was tall enough to pass as one, Jasper only beating me in height by a mere couple of inches, and my chest was small enough that a few well-placed bandages would hide it. If he was going away to fight in a war, I'd decided that he wasn't going alone.

Of course I didn't tell him that. Though Jasper treated me like one of the boys, so to speak, he was still Southern. If he knew what I planned to do, he would have tied me to my bed and then told my Daddy for good measure. No, the day Jasper left, I hugged him hard and actually dared to kiss him briefly – to which he stood stiff and still in my hold, surprise holding him rigid – before waving him off, tears in my eyes. Then, two days later, I followed him.

He never knew I was there. While Jasper charmed his way into the Army, I pulled my cap over my hair and mumbled that I was Tom Avery, fifteen years old, an orphan and I that wanted to help in any way I could. They had no reason to question me as I didn't lie about my age. I became a drummer boy among other things, and spend that first night five feet away from the boy I loved, grinned the whole way through it.

Over the next two years, I stuck as close to Jasper as I could, watching as he very quickly went up the ranks. It was hard. Even though I looked like a scrawny boy, I was very much a girl, which was extremely hard to hide at times. But I suffered through it as best I could and watched my best friends back. I like to think I even saved it a few times.

That is until Maria.

God I hate that woman. Her and her two 'sisters' destroyed Jaspers life – and mine too in the process. I was there when she turned him, you know. I didn't know that that was what she was doing at the time of course. I thought she was killing him, which I suppose she was when you think about it. After helping with the evac, I followed Jasper was watching from the bushes when he stopped for them. I remember being exasperated with his annoying Southern manners – couldn't he see he was vulnerable alone? Then everything changed as one of those innocent young women jumped him. Horror burst through me and I screamed – I still have no idea how they didn't hear me – and surged forward.

Only to be jerked to an abrupt stop.

"_No, little one, this must happen. You cannot interfere; lest you will suffer the same fate."_

The soft, echoing voice rang through me like a bell, and I halted as if I'd run into an invisible wall. I very quickly found out I couldn't move. At all. I was frozen on the spot.

"No. No, no, no, no, no! Please let me go! He's dying! She's killing him!"

I lost count of how many times I pleaded with the unknown force that was stopping me from saving Jasper's life. Whatever it was, it didn't listen. I began screaming again when I was instead dragged back into the bushes.

"_Shush, little one. This must happen. Just as you must go through your own journey. You will meet him again in time. Settle now, and prepare yourself, for this night won't be pleasant."_

I had no idea who or what was whispering in my ear – I still don't. But whoever it was, it changed me. And at the time, I didn't think it was for the better.

~0~

The voice wasn't lying. That night _wasn't _pleasant, but not because of the cold and wet. It was because of the pain.

They say becoming a vampire is the worst pain anyone can ever feel. I can't talk about that because I'm not a vampire. I'm something else. And whatever it took to make me into something else… well, it hurt like a motherfucker.

First there was the light. It bright and hot and white and it came from _inside me._ It flared up and then settled back, pushing me to the ground. Then the pain started.

Distantly I heard a hoarse screaming that I instinctively knew wasn't coming from me, but I couldn't focus on it. My body was snaking and bucking, my clothes shredding, my bones snapping and reforming. It was fiery agony and it went on forever.

In reality, it was probably only an hour or so, but to me it was an eternity. I was shrieking with pain and fear – in my mind only, as I could no longer make noise with my human mouth.

Because I no longer _had_ a human mouth.

Black hair burst all over my body, a tail sprang from my ass, my jaw elongated and sharp teeth filled my mouth. My spine twisted and my arms and legs thinned, my hands and feet becoming paws.

_Paws?_

Finally I could scream, but instead of a high-pitched shriek, I let out a guttural, almost purring snarl. My vision blurred and then sharpened and my scalp prickled, two short bumps popping from it.

Suddenly, the pain died. Just like that, it was gone. I lay panting on the ground, trying to get my bearings. My nose twitched and my whiskers –_ whiskers?_ – vibrated. I slowly and carefully lifted my head and took stock.

Someone was still screaming but I paid no attention, something I now deeply regret. Instead, I looked myself over and froze in horror and disbelief.

I was a cat. Not your ordinary household cat, no, not something as simple as that. A huge black panther, huge being the key word. I stared for a full five minutes before I tried to pull myself to my feet.

It was a weird feeling, standing on four legs. My balance was all wrong and I swayed. I snarled in annoyance – jolting at the deep sound that came from between my jaws – and sat back down again, determined not to move until I figured out what was going on.

What was I? What the hell had happened to me? I was supposed to be a 17-year-old girl disguised as a boy, not a panther who looked drunk whenever she stood up! This wasn't right! I was an abomination!

"_Not an abomination. A shifter."_

My panther head shot up as the presence filled it.

"_Who are you?" _I screamed in my mind, the sound coming out as an angry whine through my feline jaws. _"What the hell did you do to me?"_

"_Released your potential, little one. It was in your blood. Buried deep, but still there. You are now who you are meant to be."_

"_So I'm meant to be a great, hulking cat?" _I snarled. _"I'm stuck this way?"_

"_Not stuck. You can change back, just as you can now become this whenever you want. You must calm first. Once you have, think of your human body and you will be within your flesh again."_

So I did. I thought and thought and it didn't work. I was still a cat. I growled in frustration.

"_It's not working! You're lying to me! You've changed me completely! You've killed me!"_

If I hadn't been so agitated, I would have been amused at the sigh that echoed through my mind.

"_Humans. So dramatic. You aren't dying. You have been given a gift. Embrace it and be who you really are. You are a shifter and you can change back. You just have to find your key."_

I started when I felt something like a hand brush against my ears.

"_This is your journey. Live it and enjoy your new life, little one."_

The next moment the presence was gone, my head empty apart from me.

"_No! Come back! You can't leave me like this!"_

The presence didn't answer and that was the last time I heard from it. It was right about then that my panther instincts caught up with me as I smelt something… _wrong_ on the breeze. Something unnatural.

I snorted silently at that thought – unnatural? What the hell was I? – but that still didn't stop my panther body from rising up and fleeing unsteadily off into the distance, away from that wrongness.

Away from Jasper.

~0~

You have no idea how many times I've wished I could go back and change that one instinct. If I had, Jasper may not have suffered as he had. But you can't change the past, so Jasper found himself deep within the Southern Vampires Wars, while I slowly began to adjust to the animal in me.

I stayed a panther for a full week before I was able to figure out how to change back. The first time I did, it was as painful as shifting into the panther had been. It got easier with time though, and when I mention time, I mean a _lot_ of it.

It only took a month or two for the first suspicions to pop up. I had my time of the month timed down to a tee – I had to, to hide it as well as I had in the Army. The first missing month I wasn't too worried. The second was a different story.

And then there was the fact that I wasn't aging.

At all.

I was stuck in my 17-year-old body, which fortunately had become a little more muscly and defined, thanks to my cat. I was fine with that at first, but after fifty years, it became a bit of a drag. Who wants to be a teenager their whole life? And the fact that I thought my best friend was dead really didn't help my doldrums.

How could he not be? It didn't take long for me to figure out who had been screaming. That… that_ monster_ had attacked him, had ripped his throat out. He must have bled to death, he _must _have. It was the only explanation.

It was about 1945 when I realized he was still alive. Changed, but alive. By then I knew what a vampire was, just as I knew how to kill them. I'd taken down a few in my time. Not many, as it was too dangerous to go against a full coven on my own, but a few nomads here and there.

I had figured that that was what had attacked and killed Jasper, and I attended to take out as many as I could as payback. Only the bad ones though. Some of them were okay, attacking and killing the darker side of humanity. Some of them even survived off animal blood. It was refreshing to know that they all weren't monsters.

I was in Arizona when I heard about The General. Or should I say _more _about him. I'd heard of him before, had even intended to go after him as he was continuously creating more blood-thirsty, out of control vampires. But then he changed. I heard he left that life to start anew. So I left him alone.

I was spying a pair of vampires, a couple by the looks of them, when they said something that made my heart stop. Who knew a little reminiscing could turn someone's world so completely on its head?

"I wonder how he's doing?" the female mused and the male took her hand, kissing it.

"He is Jasper Whitlock, The General, my love. He is fine."

I fell backwards, only the years of moving stealthily preventing me from making any noise. Jasper? Jasper Whitlock? He was The General? _He was alive?_

Pain and anger bubble up inside me, making me shift against my will for the first time in years. I snarled in denial and revulsion as I ran, vowing that no matter how long it took, I would find him.

And I would beg on my knees for his forgiveness.

~0~

It took a lot longer then I wanted it to. I'll say one thing for vampires, if they don't want to be found, they won't be. It didn't help that I was looking for a human drinker. I didn't find this out till later, but Jasper stopped being a human drinker a few years after I overheard that conversation. I was thrilled when I did pick up that little titbit. Jasper wasn't a monster, no matter what species he was.

It was Alaska of all places where I eventually did find him. I watched his coven for days. They were a weird lot. As well as there being nine vampires, there was a different, unknown scent that belonged to a girl blossoming on the edge of adolescence, a man who looked like a boy but clearly wasn't – his scent was weird as well, but somehow not unknown this time – and four others who shared the same scent as the man. One of them was female.

I thanked for the thousandth time, the something that had changed me, for somehow seeing to it that no one else could pick up _my _scent. Or at least that was what I thought had happened. I'd spied on a lot of people over the years, both human and non-human, and my scent had never given me away. So either he/she/it, whatever, was hiding it, or I didn't have a scent. Somehow I didn't think that this was the case.

I puzzled as I watched them – or watched Jasper. He seemed happy, but alone somehow. Amongst all his family – and it was clear they were a family, not just a coven – he was alone. Lonely. I did have vague plans of leaving him be if he was content, I didn't want to intrude on his life if he didn't need me, but that changed that moment I saw his eyes.

Though they were no longer a warm blue, instead a beautiful liquid gold, they were shuttered and a little lost. Jasper kept himself secluded. Not on purpose, the others included him, but he still held himself away. He was solitary, a nomad within a coven. Which was just wrong.

By the fourth day I'd had enough. The more I looked, the more I realized that he actually wasn't happy. He was just putting on a façade for the others. So, that night, I strode down over the hill I'd been hiding on, walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

My heart was pounding. I knew that they'd be able to hear me coming, so I'd made my steps deliberately slow and easy. I wasn't the enemy. I swiped my sweaty palms on my jeans as the door opened.

"Hello," the tall, blond vampire said. "Can I help you?"

"You can't, but someone in your coven can. I'm looking for Jasper Whitlock."

I prided myself on my voice not shaking. I was outrageously nervous, but I wasn't going to let it show. At my words, I sensed the others in the house freeze.

The wind flittered a little and then there he was. My breath caught as I stared at him. He was as gorgeous as he had been when he was human.

Even with his eyes bugging and his mouth on the floor.

"M-Maisie?"

"Hello Jasper," I said with a tentative, slightly uneasy smile. "Long time no see."


	2. A new start

**Entangled**

Disclaimer: Maisie and the plot? Mine. The rest belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Two – A new start**

"_Hello Jasper," I said with a tentative, slightly uneasy smile. "Long time no see."_

* * *

My eyes ran over him as he stood there, still struck dumb, narrowing at what they saw. A low, vicious snarl rumbled in my throat and I shot through the entrance, past the confused blond vampire still holding the door open, stopping as close to Jasper as I could without bowling him over. My hands sprang up and gripped the lapels of his shirt, tugging them downwards. Jasper just stood there as I did this, not at all afraid, but the other coven members didn't. I suddenly found myself surrounded by several hissing, hostile vampires. I ignored them as my fingers trailed over the rough, marked skin on my best friends' throat and upper chest.

Scars. So, so many of them. I'd seen these type of scars before, just mostly on humans, and definitely not in this volume. Anger, disgust and guilt poured through me, almost overpowering in their strength.

"Did she do this to you?" I growled as I left his chest and grabbed his arm, shoving up his sleeve. "That _bitch_! I'll kill her!"

"Maisie," Jasper whispered. I felt my anger calming as his other arm reached up to touch the back of my head, as if to confirm to himself that I was really there. I took a deep breath, pushing aside the last of my fury, and stepped back slightly until I could look him in the eyes.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I said as I smiled at him. The smile fell away when he didn't give me an answering one. I began to feel a little worried.

"Jasper?"

"How?" he asked, still in that quiet voice. I grimaced, my worry tripling. I was quickly getting the impression that he wasn't all that happy to see me.

"You're not the only supernatural creature in the world, you know," I said. Behind us, I heard someone clear their throat.

"Son? Care to explain what's going on?"

_Son?_ What the hell? I stepped back further and Jasper let me go. My heart sunk as his expression remained mostly closed, suspicion the only thing showing besides the shock.

"This… this is Maisie. Maisie Simmons. We were friends when I was a child in the 1800's. Somehow she's here now."

Disappointment and hurt settled over me like a heavy, dark cloud. Were. We _were _friends. Past tense. I closed my eyes briefly, telling myself not to take it to heart. I'd known this might happen.

My eyes opened again to see Jasper frowning at me.

"Okay, so how is she here now?" one of the other vampires said, a huge, muscle-bound brute.

"I have no idea. She is not a vampire," Jasper said. I snorted silently. Thank God for that. Blood, even animal blood, wasn't my thing at all. I even hated eating as my cat.

"She's glad she's not a vampire, she knows some of us live off animal blood and she mentioned eating as a cat."

I spun around to stare in shock at the person who had spoken. What the freaking hell? How did he know what I was thinking?

"It's my gift," the man replied in a calm tone. "I can read minds."

"Not really something you should be telling a stranger, Eddie-boy," the hulk-like vampire commented. The mind reader shrugged.

"Apart from when she saw Jasper's scars, there aren't any violent thoughts in her mind. She has no intention of attacking us as far as I can tell."

"I agree," a tiny, pixie-like female chirped. She had a wide smile on her face and there was a lean, silent shadow standing protectively behind her, his burnt-orange hair the only thing about him that looked alive.

"I can't see much, but I don't think she's here to hurt us. I think she's meant to be here. Jasper's future went dark the moment Carlisle opened the door."

"So what is she then?" a long-haired brunette asked curiously.

"What she is, is getting really annoyed with people talking about her like she isn't even in the room," I grumbled. I was about to say something else when that sort of familiar scent hit me straight in the nose and I spun towards the door again. The boy-like man stepped through warily, wearing only a pair of cut-offs, his eyes focused solidly on me. I breathed in his scent and frowned in confusion.

"You… you're a…"

"I'm a shifter. And so are you," the boy-man said. The vampires went rigid with surprise while I blinked at him.

"A shifter?" I queried, only having heard that word once before, from the presence who made me what I was. "You're a shifter?"

The boy-man nodded. "Yeah, a wolf-shifter. I don't think you're one of us, though. You smell different."

My brows sprang up. He could catch my scent now, could he? Good to know I had one, but disappointing as well. No more sneaking up on people as easily as I used to.

"I'm not," I said, unsure if I wanted to reveal what I was. Jasper wasn't going out of his way to make me feel welcome, and frankly, if I had to get out of there quickly, I still wanted to have some element of surprise.

"May."

My head shot round to the reason I'd revealed myself in the first place. Jasper was frowning again, and this time I could read concern in the amber.

"You are safe here."

I held his gaze for a long moment, for the first time seeing more of my Jasper behind those vampire eyes. I grinned suddenly and cocked my head.

"You wanna know what I am, handsome?"

"It would be nice," Jasper said, his eyes warming at the description I'd often used as a name. My grin widened. He was still the true Southern Gentleman. His accent wasn't as pronounced as it had been, but it was still there, and his sentences were still quite formal. Happiness bubbled through me and a small smile appeared on Jasper's stone-like features.

"How about I show you?" I suggested before turning and heading out the door. The boy-man wolf-shifter stepped back to let me past, interest showing in his dark eyes. I walked down the steps and stopped in the front yard, turning to face the still slightly wary and suspicious crowd that had followed me. Most of the vampire's faces were stoic, expect for the pixie and the brute, who were both grinning, and a gentle looking female who looked simply curious. Much like the wolf still did. I looked over at Jasper, who was standing there watching me closely, with his legs spread and his arms folded across his chest. I grinned again as the familiar stance brought back many memories.

I felt a small surge of regret as I looked down at my clothes. I didn't have a lot of clothing left, everything I owned in the bag I'd sat down beside the steps before I'd first knocked on the door. But I was stripping to save them. I didn't care about nudity, I couldn't with the many times I'd have to change, but I didn't know these people. Not yet.

I took note of the way the mind reader walked over to the gentle one and whispered in her ear, before closing my eyes and reaching for that heat in my core. I tugged solidly and my cat answered.

It no longer hurt, didn't even feel weird any more. It felt natural now. Natural when my cat took me over, my tail springing from my spine, my teeth growing and sharpening, my black, bottlebrush-like hair sprouting. My gaze sharpened and I fell to all fours, my clothes shredding to fall in scraps around me. I turned to look at Jasper as I sat up in my hind legs, my whiskers twitching.

"Sweeeet," the brute whispered, a laugh in his voice. The blond female beside him snorted and her lip turned up in sneer.

"Great, more animals," she muttered before turning around and walking back into the house. The pixie clapped her hands, the ginger still standing behind her, this time with a slightly amused look in his eyes.

I stood up again, still looking at Jasper. His eyes were wide and I'd taken a step towards him when the wind shifted.

A snarl grew in my throat and I spun round, crouching down with my eyes focused sharply on the forest. I could smell canine, and though I knew the boy-man was a wolf-shifter, you couldn't be too careful.

My ears flattened as four massive wolves slinked out of the trees. I recognized their scent and was about to let down my guard when one stepped forward and growled viciously at me. My answering yowl-like snarl put the rest on alert.

"Leah! That's enough! She's a friend!" the wolf-shifter ordered, the authority in his words ringing through clearly.

"Is she?" the blond in the house scorned through the walls.

"Yes. She is," Jasper answered softly, finally unfreezing and walking towards me. He crouched down and rested his hand on my shoulder, relaxing me from my defensive crouch.

"Though she still has a lot to explain, she is a friend." He looked up at the man who'd call him son. "More than that, she is family."

A purr vibrated in my throat at his words and Jasper did the one thing I hadn't heard him do in the week I'd been watching this family.

He laughed.

~0~

I walked back into the house on four paws, my bag between my jaws, Jasper behind me. The rest of the vampires filed in behind us, moving into the den. Once we'd cleared the foyer, Jasper stepped in front of me and headed for the stairs.

"You can change in my room," he said, looking back at me. I yowled in a low tone as an answer and followed him.

His room didn't surprise me at all. Instead it made me happier. It was exactly the way I'd expected it to be, minus a bed of course. I felt like it was walking into him when I entered the room, and I couldn't help the purr of contentment that rumbled from my chest.

Jasper grinned, lightning quick, as contentment seemed to settle over him as well. His golden eyes followed me as I padded over to the window and turned round, looking at him expectantly. I yowled lightly in exasperation when he didn't move. Sometimes it sucked not being able to talk in this form.

Jasper's eyes widened suddenly and something flew through them so quickly, I couldn't read what it was. He cleared his throat.

"I'll leave you to get dressed," he said, sounding surprising awkward. Who knew a vampire could be awkward? "Just come back down when you're ready. We have a lot to talk about."

With that, he turned and left the room. My mind followed him down the stairs as I changed back. He was a lot more cautious as a vampire then he'd been as human. As I pulled a t-shirt and jeans out of my bag, I realized that I didn't really care how different he was. The crush I'd had on him when we were both human was coming back very quickly now that I'd seen him again, and it seemed to be quite a bit stronger this time. I sighed as I tied my sneakers. Why couldn't I just be happy being his friend? After he found out what I'd done, he probably wouldn't want anything to do with me. My heart was going to break anyway if I had to leave him again; I didn't want to have to deal with annoying romantic crap on top of that.

I put those thoughts out of my mind as I headed down the stairs. It wasn't wise to think such things with a mind reader in the family. I snorted. Hell, it wasn't wise to think such thoughts at all. Those types of thoughts just made my life all the more lonely.

The vampires were standing around like, well, vampires, when I entered the main room. If I hadn't already known they weren't human, the freaky stillness would have given them away in a heartbeat. Or not a heartbeat in this case. I stopped in the doorway, still a little wary. They were animal drinkers, yes, but I _was_ an animal part of the time.

"Don't worry, you smell about as appetizing as Jacob and his pack," the mind reader said with a nod at the man-boy wolf-shifter. I scowled at him. I much preferred it when I thoughts were my own.

"Most people do," the vamp commented with a smirk. My scowl deepened before what he'd said registered.

"You can smell me?" I asked. The blond – who I was beginning to really not like – sneered.

"Of course we can. You reek as much as the mutts do."

"I smell like a wolf?" I asked in confusion. Shouldn't I smell different?

"You do," the mind reader said and it took me a moment to realize he was answering the question I'd thought instead of the one I'd asked. "You smell different, but still not very pleasant to us. You don't have to worry about any of us looking at you as food."

A worrying thought entered my head before I could prevent it. I smelt bad to Jasper?

The mind reader snorted and then shook his head when the brunette – who I now realized seemed to always be by his side – looked at him curiously.

"Perhaps you should introduce us, Jasper, so she doesn't keep thinking of us as 'the mind reader' and 'the blond'," he suggested. Jasper stood from where he'd been sitting in the corner – _always keeping himself segregated_, I thought with a frown, ignoring the mind reader when he nodded – and headed over to me. He smiled and took my hand, drawing me further into the room.

The introductions were quick. I learnt that the blond male who had originally opened the room was Carlisle, the leader, or father as they saw him. The gentle-looking one was Esme, his mate. The mind reader was Edward, and the brunette was Bella. They were mates as well. The snotty blond was Rosalie, her mate being Emmett, the muscle-bound brute. Then there was Alice, the pixie, and her mate, Judd, who was the newest addition to the family.

The wolves were Jacob, their leader – or Alpha as they called him – his Beta, Leah, who was the one who'd growled at me, and her brother Seth, who just wouldn't stop smiling. It was a little creepy actually. No one was supposed to be happy all the time, it wasn't natural.

Edward snorted again and I glared at him before turning back to the rest of the 'pack'. Next came Embry, who was grinning at me suggestively, looking me up and down, almost leering. The grin left his face pretty quickly when Jasper growled at him. He stepped back and held up his hands in surrender, and I frowned in confusion when Edward chuckled. I glowered in his direction. Lord, that was bound to get annoying quickly.

Edward chuckled again and I ignored him again, focusing on the last member of the pack. His name was Malcolm, and I was shocked at how young he was. He didn't look any older then fourteen or so – or at least his eyes didn't. He had the body of a twenty-year-old. All of them did, Jacob being the biggest. Leah wasn't as bad, but if I hadn't been a shifter myself, I would have been intimidated.

Jacob then said that there was apparently another member of his pack, but he'd chosen to stay behind at their reservation, La Push, when the rest had moved with the Cullen's. When I asked why – hey, I'm nosy by nature, not to mention they're as like me as I'd ever seen – I was told that he had a shifter version of a mate back there and didn't want to leave her. I cocked my head in question at Jasper when he studied me particularly hard as I heard that last answer. After a moment he shook his head and looked away.

I also learnt that there was another member of the family who I wouldn't meet till the morning, as she was asleep at the moment. My brows winged at that. Vampires didn't sleep. So unless they had a human in the family… I frowned as I remembered the tween girl I'd seen. She'd had a very strange scent. Sorta vampire, but sorta not.

I was drawn from my musings by Jasper saying my name. He looked at me and I swallowed as I suddenly realized it was just as easy to get lost in gold eyes as it was in blue.

"You're turn, darlin'. How did you end up as you are?"

I suppressed the shiver I'd had to battle every time he'd called me that since I was old enough to appreciate him as a male, and grinned.

"I followed you," I said simply. Jasper frowned in confusion and then groaned.

"Of course you did," he muttered.

"Care to elaborate for those of us who are still lost?" Esme suggested with a small smile. I looked at her and nodded.

"You all know Jasper was in the Confederate Army, right?" I asked. They all nodded and I continued.

"Well, I didn't want him to go. I somehow knew that if he went, or at least if he went _alone_, he wouldn't be coming back. So I followed him two days after he left."

"You got into the Confederate Army?" Emmett asked in disbelief, running his gaze over me. I smirked.

"Sure did. Not as a soldier, I didn't want to fight, and I knew they wouldn't believe me if I lied about my age. But as a drummer boy, I had much more success."

"Drummer _boy?_" Jasper asked quietly. I looked at him and shrugged.

"You remember what I looked like. It was easy to pretend to be a boy. No one ever questioned me."

"Then they didn't have any eyes," Jasper said. I smiled. He'd always complemented me, trying to keep my self-esteem high. He needn't have worried. I hadn't cared then what people thought of me, still didn't now, but I appreciated the effort none the less.

I launched into the rest of the story, making Jasper frown as he realized just how close to him – how close to the _action _– I'd been all the time. I hesitated when I got to the night we were both changed, before rushing through it as quickly as possible.

"You were there?" Jasper whispered. "In pain, not that far from me?"

"Yes," I said shortly. I turned to him and took his hand, absently noting how cool his skin was, as well as the rest quietly leaving the room when Edward gestured.

"Jasper… I, ah…"

"What is it, May?" he asked softly, frowning. I swallowed.

"I'm so incredibly sorry I let her happen to you, and that I ran while you were suffering. I should have stopped it. If I'd been stronger, you wouldn't have gone through what you have. You wouldn't have to resist the burn of human blood every day. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to save you, and I understand if you don't want to see me again after this. I'll leave quietly, I just needed to apologize."

Jasper's eyes bulged – another thing I never thought I'd see a vampire do – and his hold on my hand tightened almost painfully.

"That's why I feel such guilt from you?" he questioned in incredulity and something akin to horror. I blinked at his wording.

"Why you… feel from me?"

Jasper waved his hand. "Some vampires, like Edward, have special abilities that manifest when they are changed. Alice can see the future, Bella has a mental shield, Renesmee can put images into other's minds, Judd can draw water to him and from anything, and I can read and manipulate other's emotions. The potential of it was how I was able to talk my way into the Army," he said absently.

_So Renesmee is a vampire,_ I thought before being startled out of my thoughts when Jasper's grip tightened again. If I hadn't been who I am, he would have broken my hand.

"I have been feeling an underlying guilt from you since you got here, which has been confusing me, as you have nothing to feel guilty over."

He reached up and laid a finger over my mouth when I went to protest. His personal scent evaded my nose and I felt my cat snarl in hunger inside me. I couldn't have agreed more. I don't think I'd ever wanted someone so badly before, not even when I wanted him as a human.

_And he can feel that!_

"No, you _do not_ have anything to feel guilty about!" Jasper continued, making me focus on the conversation again. "You were human, May! Maria would have snapped your neck like a twig, or worse, she could have changed you! There is nothing you could have done! This presence you say activated your phasing, saved your life, plain and simple. And I will be forever grateful that it did."

His finger left my mouth, and he reached up to brush against my hair. I couldn't stop my shudder this time. His eyes, which had been focused on his hand, snapped to mine.

"I'd hate to think of you going through the newborn phase, Maisie," he said seriously. "Though I'm sure you would have pulled through with little bloodshed, you are incredibly strong, you still would have ended up in the same place I did. That is the last place I would have wanted you to be."

He turned and my eyes followed him helplessly. Couldn't he see that if I'd _done_ something, he may not have ended up there?

"You probably would have pulled through, but then she would have forced me to kill you, and at that stage I was still doing whatever she said." He turned back to me. "I would have had to end you and that would have destroyed me."

I blinked as he met my eyes.

"So you have nothing to apologize for. If you had gotten any closer in your attempt to save me, we both would have ended up dead. The presence saved not only your life, but mine as well."

I searched his gaze. "You really believe that," I said slowly. Jasper nodded.

"I do. What happened was meant. We were meant to meet again here and now. So here we are and here we will stay."

"You… want me to stay?" I whispered. Jasper smiled and nodded again, stepping closer to me once more.

"Do you really think I would let you get away from me again, darlin'? You are not going anywhere."

I launched myself at him, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. Jasper stiffened slightly before his arms came around me as well. I buried my face against his chest, sighing happily.

"I have my best friend back," I whispered in wonder and Jasper stiffened again. I stepped back and frowned at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, May, I'm fine," Jasper said quietly. I could tell he wasn't but he took my hand before I could call him on it.

"Come, the others will be wanting to talk to you again. And I better see Esme about a room for you."

I grinned as he led me through to the kitchen. I had my Jasper back. Now, if this irritating little crush would go away, everything would be perfect.

Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want.


	3. Bump in the road

**Entangled**

Disclaimer: Twilight and everything that happened in the following books belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Maisie and this story belong to me.

**Chapter Three – Bump in the road**

_Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want._

* * *

A month passed, and I settled in with my new 'family' happily enough. The Cullens had no trouble excepting me – well, eight out of nine didn't. They loved Jasper and wanted him to be happy, Esme especially. The motherly vampire welcomed me warmly, eagerly and anxiously hanging around, making sure I had everything I needed. It got annoying after a while, though I grinned and bore it. She was a sweet lady – which was confusing as most vampires were as far from sweet as possible – and I found myself not wanting to hurt her feelings.

Her husband, Carlisle, was welcoming as well, kind, and actually rather curious. He wanted to know everything about my cat and how I'd first phased. I answered as carefully as I could, cautiously almost. It wasn't that I didn't want to give him the answers, it was just I wasn't used to spilling the beans. Moving around and being on my own for over a hundred years hadn't made me a very open person.

I liked Emmett the most. The huge vampire was as far from the brute I'd first thought he was, though I suspected that if he needed to hulk out, he would without a seconds notice. He was the jokester of the family. He could make anything into a joke, the cruder, the better. From the moment I'd moved in, he'd made it his mission to make fun of me – and he'd been thoroughly put out when I'd given as good as I got. When you grow up looking less than pretty, you soon learnt to handle taunting, though Emmett teased more than taunted. He'd only gone too far once, and I'd been about to chew him out for it, only to be surprised when Jasper got in first.

I still found the mind reader annoying, which he of course knew, but I learnt to tolerate him. I didn't really get to know Bella all that much, apart from her story that is. She was constantly either hanging around her husband or Alice, and since I was trying to avoid both those people, the newest vampire didn't register on my radar all that much.

I liked Judd. He was very clearly the strong and silent type. But the fact that he was desperately in love with Alice and she with him was the strongest reason why I liked him. I'd found Alice's chirpiness annoying anyway, but once I'd found out that she and Jasper used to be together, and probably still would have been if Judd hadn't ambled into the pixie's mental view about eight months before… well, let's just say that I didn't want much to do with her after that. Especially when I learnt more of their story and found out Alice knew Jasper and she weren't mates before they met, but told him they were.

She'd then manipulated his feelings to get him to go with her, something she wouldn't have been able to do if he hadn't been so blinded by the thought that he might have finally found his place in the world. Jasper insisted that he didn't care anymore and was over her, but if that was true, why was he always keeping himself away from them? It pissed me off. Sure, Jasper could feel and manipulate emotions himself, but he never, _never_, used it to change everything around until he was happy with it. He never had. So I stayed as far away from the pixie as possible so as not to start something, because I knew if I brought it up, I wouldn't stop until she was in pieces on the floor.

The other vamp I disliked as much as Alice was Rosalie. She was a snotty bitch, plain and simple. I knew I could be bitchy at times, but not like her. She never even put in an effort to get to know me. I know some people really don't like change, but come on! The first time I tried to have a conversation with her, she threw me a vile, disgusted look, muttered something about revolting animals and stalked away while I was mid-sentence. I didn't try again, that's for sure. Revolting animals? They certainly weren't revolting when she ate them! Stupid, douchey, blood-sucking disco-ball. Ugh!

Anyway, the youngest member of the family I couldn't help but love. Renesmee, or Nessie as they called her, was sweet, loving and curious. And smart. Incredibly, unbelievably smart. I figured out why she smelt weird when I learnt what she was. Half-vampire, half-human? I'd never heard of such a thing! But, then again, I never knew I wasn't the only one like me, until I met Jasper's family.

Which is a great segue into the wolves. They intrigued me. They had their own place, about ten minutes away from the Cullens. When I asked why, Embry said it was because of the smell. He confused me with that answer. What smell? Vampires didn't smell bad, just weird and maybe a little unnatural. Sort of sharp and sweet, but not terrible. The Cullens smelt better than human drinkers, whose method of feeding tainted their scent, and Jasper smelt best of all. I could get drunk on his scent, it was that addicting. There aren't words to describe it, at least not the right ones. It was stronger, more concentrated then when he was human, but still him all the same. It was… lovely. Intoxicating.

I definitely made sure I didn't think like that when Edward was around. I'd really come to hate his smirk.

I learnt about imprinting right after I met Nessie for the first time. I, in fact, demanded to know. Jacob was there when I met her, and the way he acted around her felt just a little off to me. There wasn't anything sexual in his actions, he was more of a best friend and big brother to her, but the devotion I saw in his eyes when he looked at her… it didn't seem right. I confronted Jasper about it and he told me. I shook my head in horror after the hearing the story. To not have a choice who you love, to be ruled by your DNA… I thanked everything holy that it had never happened to me. Of course, if it had, I probably wouldn't have seen it as I do. Jacob certainly seemed happy and Jasper assured me Nessie would always have a choice whether to except him or not when she got older. Jacob would be to her, whatever she wanted him to be, and if she didn't see him that way, he would except that and their relationship would stay sibling-like.

I thought it would be interesting to be around when she got old enough to consider making that choice.

I didn't really have much to do with Seth either. Mainly because he was so cheerful all the time, and that just eventually made me feel nauseated. He was like an eager little puppy, always wanting to please, though he apparently wasn't as bad as he used to be. He worshipped Jacob and was a good friend to Nessie. I liked him, but could only take so much of him at one time.

Embry was a flirt. And not a picky one it seemed, as for the first little while he focused his attention on me. I brushed him off repeatedly, not at all worried, because all though he cocked his head and did his best to undress me with his eyes, he wasn't serious. It was just his nature. He did stop suddenly, which both confused and pleased me. One day he was brushing against me as much as possible, the next he was deliberately keeping his distance. I didn't know why, but I wasn't complaining.

Malcolm was a cool character. Very shy and so incredibly sweet you actually wanted to pinch his cheeks. It took a lot to get him out of his shell, but once I did, he became a good, reliable friend. When he told me why he'd joined Jacob's pack and followed them when they followed the Cullens, I had to go for a long lope through the trees to calm myself down. I'd suspected that he batted for the other team as soon as I met him probably – the way he looked at Seth confirmed that – and I didn't have a problem with it. But his family, his father in particular, had. A big one.

To have to leave your home, to avoid someone trying to change who you were by attempting to beat it out of you, was a terrible crime.

Fortunately, neither the pack back at La Push, nor Jacob's pack here, had a problem with who he was, and it was anonymously decided between them and their Elders that Malcolm would go with Jacob as a way to protect him. How he hid his feelings from Seth was beyond me, what with the pack mind and all, but the always-smiling Third seemed none the wiser.

Which may have been a good thing, as I wasn't sure what Seth's feelings on the matter would have been. He never showed any interest in girls _or_ guys, and I would have torn his head off if he'd (unintentionally) broken Malcolm's heart.

The last member of the pack I had an iffy relationship with. Leah was very much an Alpha Female, and though I didn't consider myself that way, she treated me like competition. We did have a shared animosity towards Rosalie though, and bonded a little because of it, as well as having someone to talk to about being stuck as we were if we wanted to. But we didn't do that much. We'd so far only had one physical fight, from which neither of us had come out on top, much to Emmett and Embry's disappointment. We'd both just ended up exhausted and bloody, which had irritated Jasper, even more so when they all realized that I didn't automatically heal like the wolves did. He'd shouted at Leah, who had looked guilty when she realized my bites and scratches weren't going away like hers were, and then at Jacob, telling him to keep his Beta under better control. He'd then lectured me for half an hour while Carlisle had bandaged me up. I rolled my eyes at the time, but was still secretly pleased. At least he was relating to me.

I mentioned earlier that Jasper kept himself away from everyone? Well, for some reason he was alienating me as well. Yes, he spoke to me and sometimes it was like the last hundred years had never happened, but he would always pull away. I would also sometimes catch him looking at me weirdly, like he wanted to say or do something, but was stopping himself. He always seemed to be arguing with Edward as well, who had an almost permanent scowl on his face when Jasper was around. It made me wonder what he was thinking.

It hurt. Quite a lot actually. And it was pissing me off. The longer I was around him, the more my crush developed, until I could no longer classify it as just a crush. I'd thought I loved him when I was human? That was nothing compared to the way I was feeling now. He was my everything. The centre of my world. He was, to put it simply, mine.

I did my best to find these feeling from him, squishing them far down inside me. It was hard, but I think I managed it. At least Jasper never gave any indication that he was picking up on what I was feeling. He might have if he actually spent more time with me, but he kept to himself a lot. And since I'm stubborn, I didn't push him. If he didn't want to at least be my friend, I really didn't care. Or so I told myself.

But the hurt and confusion was building more and more every day, and it was getting to the point that I was thinking of leaving. I liked these people, I really did, but I couldn't handle his constant rejection. I loved him, more then I'd ever thought possible, but it looked like he was just putting up with me.

He'd walked away from me one too many times the day that everything changed.

~0~

It was an ordinary day. The vamps had been stuck in the house for the past week, so Judd had decided to pull some clouds over the area so that they could actually go out. Jacob was running around with Nessie, whose peal-like laughter made up for the lack of sun. Alice and Judd were talking softly as they sat on the porch steps. Rosalie, Emmett and Esme were out hunting, and Edward and Bella had gone into Anchorage to get some supplies – mainly for me, but for Nessie as well, who was more interested in human food now that she wasn't the only one eating it. Carlisle was in his study, doing God knows what. Leah was in wolf form, watching from the trees, and the rest of the wolves were back at their place, most likely groaning about having to attend school on Monday. I was sitting on the ground, watching Jasper, who was sitting in a tree at the other end of the yard, segregating himself as always. I hadn't spoken to him in two days.

He was avoiding me and it was breaking me to pieces.

The worst thing was I just didn't know why. Did he hate what I was now? The vamps hadn't liked the wolves when they'd first met them. Did he think that way about me? I hadn't thought so a month ago. I was sure he'd been happy to see me then. So why was he acting this way now?

I sighed and looked away as my chest ached. I couldn't take much more of this. Being alone had to be better than living with the constant knowledge that the one I wanted didn't want me back. That he didn't even like me anymore. At least if I left I wouldn't hurt – not after a while anyway. My crush had gone away last time, it would do so again.

_Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,_ I silently scorned. This wasn't a crush. This… this was deep, and final, and would _not _just disappear. But at least it wouldn't kill me every time he looked away from me, or spoke to me like I was a stranger.

With a little luck, it would fade with a bit of time, and I was finding myself leaning more and more towards that hopeful future.

"Please don't go."

I looked up to see the pixie standing beside me. I frowned, not liking that I'd been so caught in my thoughts that I hadn't heard her approach.

"What?"

"Please don't leave. Talk to him, give him a chance."

I stared at her as she sat down, instinctively edging away. I didn't want her too close to me, but she wasn't giving me much of a choice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," Alice insisted. "Jasper's future keeps fading in and out, and whenever it fades in, he's all but destroyed. I can only attribute that to you not being here."

She was talking very, very quietly, so quietly I had to strain to hear her. Her entire focus was on me, and she looked incredibly earnest. It was disconcerting.

"This isn't really any of your business," I pointed out and she sighed.

"I know it's not, but I hate seeing him hurt. You'll hurt him if you leave."

"His feelings aren't yours to worry about anymore," I said through gritted teeth. Alice pursed her lips.

"I did love him, you know."

"Love him? _Love him?_" I hissed, my anger at this smug little bitch and the way she'd played with the man I loved, building rapidly. "You call that love? You _used_ him as a means to an end! That's not love!"

"I admit, I bought him here and used a physical and emotional relationship to do so, but it was for his own good," the pixie said, cool as a cucumber. "I knew his destiny was here, as mine was. It was the only way to get him to trust and follow me, and I'm not going to apologize for it. Jasper doesn't blame me, why do you?"

"He doesn't… you… I should… _god!_" I burst out as I sprang to my feet, my anger so huge now that my hands were shaking. Everyone stopped what they were doing at my outburst, looking over at the two of us. Jasper stood on his branch, a worried frown on his stone-like features.

It soon transformed into an incredulous look when I hauled Alice up by her designer lapels and got right in her face. The vampire didn't try to pull away, just let me man-handle her. She even shooed Judd away when he got to his feet as well, a snarling growl rumbling deep from his chest.

"You smarmy little slut," I growled, "You _admit _manipulating him? I should take you apart right here and now!"

"But you won't, because that would hurt him," she murmured, looking directly into my raging eyes. "That's the last thing you want to do. Believe me, I know the feeling."

"Don't you _dare _talk about caring about him! You wound him round your sparkly, little finger, and then abandoned him as soon as your true mate walked into the picture! You gave him hope and then ripped it away! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Maisie."

I looked over to find Jasper standing only a few feet away, his face calm and blank. I glowered at him.

"Put her down and hold your tongue."

My mouth fell open. _What? _He was… he was choosing her over me?! She was mated! Did he still love her that much?!

It was the last straw. The emotions I'd kept buried inside me broke free of my control, surging up to fill me from head to toe. A long, drawn out, pain-filled moan escaped through my teeth and I dropped my enemy – who, of course, landed on her annoyingly perfect vampire feet. Jasper gasped, his eyes widening comically, his hand flying up to rest on his chest. I didn't stick around to see what was up with him though.

I turned and burst from my human form, shredding me clothes, galloping into the trees and away. Jasper shouted my name but didn't follow me. He probably expected me to come back.

I didn't.

~0~

I finally stopped fleeing three days later. I had to. Cats are not made for running constantly and I was exhausted, to the point that I couldn't see straight anymore. I'd just crossed the border into Canada, and I flopped down in some underbrush. I was incredibly tired and unbelievably hungry. I hadn't stopped to eat, just wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I ignored it as I huddled, my body trembling, only instinct preventing me from whining in pain.

God. Who knew something could hurt this much? It was atrocious, the way my heart was almost caving in on itself. If I hadn't been so lost in my own suffering, I would have smirked and rolled my eyes at my overly dramatic thoughts. But that horrible, sharp ache was all I could focus on.

I knew later, when I was able to see past the pain, that I'd be disappointed and frustrated with myself for running. I'd done that once and it had resulted in me losing him the first time. Now, the same thing had happened.

_You can't lose something that you never had._

I growled and stood up shakily, more than ready to run from that thought, even though it was true. Jasper was never mine, no matter how hard I wished it. He was still in love with a mated vampire, not me. Never me. Not when we were human, and definitely not now.

The wind shifted, bringing a familiar scent, and a corresponding movement in the trees above me made me look up. I froze, and if I'd been human, I would have frowned in disbelief and confusion. What?

Jasper stared back at me silently, those beautiful golden eyes searching. He made a minute movement and I tensed, wanting desperately to flee again. I was a coward when it came to him, and I freely admitted it.

He froze as well, his eyes now anxious. "Don't run again," he whispered.

I snarled softly, already inching back.

"Please, Maisie. I will follow you anyway; I'll follow you anywhere, so it's pointless. You have been running for a long time now. Stop."

Somehow, I didn't just think he meant just recently.

He moved minutely once more, and when all I did was snarl again, he lowered himself down from the tree and walked towards me very slowly, his hands out.

"Maisie. Oh, my May. I'm sorry. I'm so very, very sorry."

I growled in confusion as my tail swished anxiously, my eyes narrowing. Why was he apologizing? Why was he calling me_ his_ May?

What the fuck was he doing here?

He stopped ten inches away from me, mainly because I snarled at him when he tried to come closer. He groaned a little, as if he was the one hurt, which just confused me more.

"I'm an idiot. A complete and utter fool. I was so focused on what I thought I felt from you, I did not see what I was doing to you. Please, you have to forgive me. You have to come back to me. Come back and be mine."

Huh?

Shock made me phase. My hair disappeared, my tail shrunk back into my spine, my back curved, and then I was suddenly sitting on the ground, naked as the day I was born.

"What did you just say?"

Jasper didn't answer. He was too busy staring at me. His amazing eyes travelled over my exposed skin, heating and darkening until they were almost black. I swallowed heavily as they finally met mine, the sheer want in them leaving me reeling.

"Jasper?"

My confused whisper snapped him back, and he quickly took off his coat and draped it around my shoulders. It didn't do much, he was only just taller than me, but since I was sitting, it hid what it should have. He stepped back once the material was in place.

"May I sit?" he asked politely. I nodded, watching him closely. He sat down and turned slightly, keeping a respectable distance between us.

We were silent for a while, him because he was waiting for me, me because I didn't know what to say. Finally, I just said what I was thinking.

"Explain the meaning of what you just said."

Jasper sighed, his hand fluttering up, only to fall back down again.

"In simple terms, you are my mate."

_What? _No. He was lying. He had to be.

"I am not lying, Maisie," he whispered, making me realized I'd spoken aloud. "I knew it the moment I saw you again. It happens that way for most of us, knowing as soon as we see."

I looked away. "That doesn't make any sense. You haven't acted in any way like I am since we met again. You've mostly treated me like a stranger."

He tentatively reached out and rested his fingers under my chin, lifting it towards him. They brushed gently against my cheek as he let go.

"Which is, in part, your fault as well," he accused softly. He smiled when I frowned and went to protest. "You are very, very good at hiding your emotions, May. Apart from the occasional – very occasional – surge of desire, which I put down to me being a vampire-" he grinned when I snorted. "-all I felt from you was friendship. So I acted accordingly. Eventually, I could not even do that, hence why I distanced myself from you."

"You couldn't be my friend?" I whispered, looking away again.

"No. Not when I was so deeply in love with you, and thought you only saw me as a friend. It hurt too much."

My eyes snapped to his and my heart jumped in my chest. Had he just said…?

He reached out and took my face between his hands. "I am more in love with you then I ever thought possible," he murmured. "You are the be-all and end-all, Maisie. When Edward got home and told me you were not coming back… I have never felt such pain. To finally know that you felt the same and that I may have lost you… have I lost you?"

"What about Alice?" I whispered.

He frowned. "What about her?"

"You love her. You chose her over me."

"I did not," he stated firmly, still frowning. "I was afraid you would make her angry and she would hurt you. You don't heal, May. Seeing you hurt rips me apart."

"But you love her," I said, still focused on that one point.

He shook his head. "No. I loved her, yes – past tense – but that's nothing compared to what I feel for you. You are my mate-"

"So you only feel for me because you have to? Like imprinting?" I interrupted. Jasper growled lightly and let me go.

"_No!_ Christ, Maisie, why are you throwing up obstacle after obstacle?"

"Because I love you too much to settle for half a heart."

Once again, if this hadn't been so serious, I would have rolled my eyes at the corniness of that answer. But it was serious, and those words made Jasper look at me with something like hope in his eyes.

"I know the feeling, darlin'," he murmured, a smile on his face. "But since you have to know, this isn't a short-term, one-time thing. I loved you when I was human as well."

"No you didn't," I said automatically. Jasper laughed.

"Telling me how I feel now, are you?" he grinned. "Well, listen closely. I did love you then, though I didn't realize just how strong I felt until a certain little Southern Belle bestowed a kiss on me before I left for war."

My mouth fell open and Jasper laughed again, the sound light-hearted. He inched closer to me, grasping my wrists.

"That kiss haunted me, Miss May. All through the two years I was fighting, that kiss and the woman who had given it to me were always at the back of my mind. I'd reached a decision just before Maria found me. As soon as I was released from my post, I was going to come home and beg on my knees for you to be my wife if I had to. Of course, I didn't know that I wouldn't have had to go as far as I thought to get to you," he said dryly.

"_Me? _You wanted to marry _me?_" I whispered incredulously, ignoring the last part. Jasper smiled and nodded.

"With everything inside me. So you see, it's not just because you are my mate. That just builds on it. I have loved you for many years, and I will continue to love you for many years to come, even if you decide to call me a fool and leave me in the dust. I wouldn't blame you if you did."

I stared at him. He loved me. He _loved _me. _He _loved _me._ It was almost implausible.

"May? Please say something!" Jasper pleaded quietly, his eyes desperate.

"I love you," I murmured and Jasper's whole face lit up.

"Good. Because I love you too." He slowly drew me into his arms.

"It doesn't matter to you that I am a vampire?" his melodic voice asked.

"No," I murmured against his chest. I stiffened and looked up as a thought occurred to me. "It doesn't matter to you that I might imprint one day?"

Pain flashed swiftly across his face, and he took an unnecessarily deep breath.

"Carlisle does not think you will," he murmured. "If you didn't on me, and you are my mate, he doesn't think you do imprint like the wolves. But if you do…" he took another breath, closing his eyes briefly before meeting my worried gaze, "…I'll fight for you tooth and nail. You are mine, no one else's, Maisie. Mine."

It was all I needed to hear. I pulled back from him slightly, my hands copying him to frame his cheeks.

"Jasper?"

"Darlin'?"

"Kiss me please."

He grinned. "With pleasure."

It was nothing like that first, awkward kiss all those years ago. Though I'd only kissed a few men in my time, I did have more of an idea what I was doing, and Jasper… well, I didn't think of that. I just kissed him.

I curved my body around him, my hands moving into his curls, while his cupped my face again. My mouth moved over his leisurely, a sigh escaping me when his tongue drifted across my bottom lip. My mouth opened and the kiss deepened, the sigh turning into a soft moan. Jasper growled lightly at the sound, his hands tightening on my cheeks. He angled his head and the kiss deepened further, my heart rate picking up until I thought it was going to explode from my chest.

Jasper chuckled quietly as I pulled back and rested my forehead against his chest, frantically dragging air into my oxygen-deprived lungs. He froze suddenly, his hands clutching me in panic.

"What's wrong?" I panted.

"My… venom," he choked, "on my teeth… god… why didn't I think…"

I chuckled this time. "Do you really think I would agree to live with nine and a half vampires without knowing already if you were deadly to me? You're not. I don't know why, but your venom has no effect on me. I've been bitten a few times during a fight, so I know. It won't even change me."

I full-out laughed at his shocked expression. "I guess it makes up for not healing like the others do," I grinned.

Slowly, a grin spread across Jasper's face as well. "Yes, I suppose it does."

"So you don't have to worry about me suddenly screaming and withering in pain when you kiss me," I smirked.

"Thank God for that," Jasper growled and kissed me again.

~0~

It took us almost a week to get back to the others. Mainly because I could only travel as my cat, being as I didn't have any clothes. Jasper smirked and said he didn't mind carrying me naked. I snorted and rolled my eyes at that comment, secretly thrilled that he wanted me. My body was still more boyish then I liked, but if he didn't seem to mind, I wasn't going to worry. And, as he got a number of glances when I was phased back and forth, his resulting actions definitely made it clear that he didn't mind at all.

Could lips become chapped from too much kissing?

Anyway, they were of course, expecting us. They were all lined up outside, waiting. Emmett's booming laughter filled the air when he saw the way Jasper was shadowing as close as possible without running into me, and he held out his hand to Embry, who grudgingly handed over a twenty. I mentally shook my head. That boy really had no idea about girls, though he pretended he did. It was going to be interesting to see him really fall one day.

Carlisle and Esme welcomed us back with open arms, Nessie running over to hug me and then launch herself at Jasper. Edward smirked at both of us, and Jasper rolled his eyes, murmuring something that sounded a lot like, "yes, yes, you were right, no need to rub it in." Bella smiled warmly, as did Judd, while Seth grinned and Malcolm walked over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder to pet slightly. I purred at him.

Jacob inclined his head while Leah grumbled and folded her arms, her disgust overridden by the relief in her eyes. It seems I had another friend if I wanted one. Rosalie muttered something I didn't catch and stalked inside. Jasper must have though, because he stiffened. I mentally shrugged. Rosalie was never going to be my favourite person, or I hers.

I stilled when Alice walked towards me, the noise slowly dying as everyone became aware of her approach. I stared into her eyes as she stopped two feet away from me, a smirk on her face. I snarl ripped from my throat as all the dots finally connected.

I didn't even think about it. I phased.

"You manipulative little bitch! You _planned _this!" I hissed. I heard multiply intakes of breath and then heard Jasper sigh, his coat once again settling around me.

"Aww, come on," Emmett whined. Rosalie snarled from the house and the big vamp rolled his eyes.

"She has nothing on you, my love," he murmured. Rosalie grumbled but didn't come outside.

I ignored them all.

"Didn't you? This was your plan all along!"

"Yes," Alice answered simply. Jasper hissed and crouched defensively. Alice looked at him.

"I had to, Jazz. Neither of you were going to talk to each other, and though she was thinking about it, Maisie's plans wouldn't firm. I had to get her to leave. It was the only way to get you to follow, and for you to finally be happy and stop pushing everyone away."

Jasper glared at her. "So it was for my own good again, was it?" he snarled.

"Yes," Alice answered again, nodding. "We were losing you and I didn't want that to happen. You're a part of this family. I knew what I had to do as soon as Carlisle opened the door."

She sighed when Jasper growled.

"I'm sorry I had to do it again, and I promise it was the last time. But it worked, didn't it? She's yours now, as she was always meant to be."

"I like to think we could have figured it out on our own without your interference," Jasper hissed. Alice nodded.

"Me too, but I didn't see it happening. All I saw was you miserable. So I stirred the pot a bit."

She stepped back into Judd's arms as she turned to look at me. I was still fuming.

"I'm sorry I messed with your life. I hope you can forgive me one day, and that we can be friends," she murmured. I scowled at her angrily.

"Don't hold your breath," I muttered.

"I won't," she sighed. Judd's hold tightened but he didn't say anything. I took Jasper's hand and pulled him after me, away from her. He quickly took the lead, drawing me into the house and up the stairs.

His lips were on mine the instant his door closed behind us.

"We really need to keep you in clothes at all times," he sighed against my mouth.

"At _all _times?" I moaned.

"It is a given that it's not while you're around me and only me," he answered, dragging his lips down my throat. I laughed breathlessly.

"Well then, I better move in here, don't you think?"

Jasper stepped back, the movement so quick I almost didn't catch it. "Really?" he questioned, his eyes burning. I shivered and laughed again, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't jump the gun too quickly, handsome," I teased. "Just because I want to sleep with you, doesn't mean I'm ready to _sleep_ with you yet."

He smiled. "I can wait, as long as you need," he whispered. I laughed for a third time and drew his mouth down again.

The kiss broke on a sigh as he swiftly picked me up and carried me to the bed - which I realized later a hopeful vampire must have purchased before he went distant on me - laying me down gently. _Yes, we can wait_, I thought as my mouth soon became busy again, Jasper pulling up the covers to hide temptation. I'd love him for eternity and that wasn't going to change.

We definitely had time.

* * *

**A/N - And that's the end. Wow. I'm really bad at short, simple one-shots lol. Thanks everyone for reading!**


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